Ice skate walking appliance-ice skate walking shoes



' April 1, 1958 w. VASSANELLI 2,828,967

ICE SKATE WALKING APPLIANCE ICE SKATE WALKING SHOES Filed April 4, 195a IN V EN TOR.

2/1545! yywyzzzz 'BY United'States Patent ICE SKATE WALKING APPLIANCE-ICE SKATE WALKING SHOES William Vassanelli, Garfield, N. J.

Application April 4, 1956, Serial No. 576,068

1 Claim. (Cl. 280-1138) This invention relates to attachments for ice skates and, more particularly to a walking device therefor.

Ordinarily, ice skaters are subjected to the inconvenience of having to change from their walking shoes to their ice skates at the ice rink and once having placed the ice skates on their feet must exercise caution so as not to bring the blades of the skates into contact with the ground and other abrasive surfaces which would dull their blades. An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an attachment for ice skates which will enable the skaters to walk, drive, and otherwise travel to the ice rink or pond with their skates on and which will protect the blades of the skates from damage.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple attachment for ice skates that may be removably secured to the blade portion of the ice skates for enabling the skater to leave the ice skating rink or pond without dam-. aging the blades of the skates, which is simple in construction and efiicient in use.

A still further object of this invention is to provide ice skate walking appliances which can be easily, quickly and conveniently applied and held securely to the skates.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a bottom perspective view of an ice skate attachment made in accordance'with this invention;

Figure 2 is a top' perspective view of the device shown in Figure 1, showing a shoe skate in broken lines in position above the appliance;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of Figure 2, showing a shoe skate in partial engagement with the skate attachment;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the shoe skate in operative engagement with the attachment;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a modified form of the invention.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawing, the attachment is shown to comprise a bifurcated shoe-shaped platform 10 that has an upper, sole receiving surface 12 and a flat ground engaging surface 14 at the opposite side thereof. The longitudinal groove 16 that is disposed within the central longitudinal plane of the platform, extends from the extreme front end 18 thereof rearwardly to a wall 20 adjacent to the heel or rearward extremity 22 thereof. A pair of conically shaped recesses 24, 26, are disposed intermediate the forward and rear extremities of the groove and are adapted to receive the forward and rearward blade posts 28, 30, respectively, of the shoe skate 32 which support the shoe on the blade 31. Referring to Figure 3 of the drawing, the longitudinal groove is enlarged at its rearmost point to provide a recess 35 which forms an extension of the longitudinal groove adjacent the groundengaging surface 14. The other extremity of the recess terminates in a horizontal ledge 37 "ice 2 V which extends upwardly and forwardly along an inclined surface 41 which defines a positioning block portion 39 between the ledge 37 and the sole receiving surface 12 of the platform that is adapted to extend between the blade portion and the sole portion of the shoe, as better shown in Figure 4 of the drawing.

The platform 10. may be constructed of any suitable material such as wood or wood-product. In order to reinforce the platform, a reinforcing plate 43, 45, is disposed at the forward and rearward extremities, respectively, of the longitudinal groove on the ground engaging surface 14 of the platform. An arcuate heel reinforcing plate 47 is secured to the heel section 22, whereby the platform is further protected against splitting, cracking, and the like.

In operating, the rearward section of the shoe skate is inserted into the longitudinal groove as better shown in Figure 3, so as to cause the positioning block 39 to engage the skate between the blade and sole surfaces of the skate, whereupon the forward end of the blade is urged downwardly into the associated portion of the longitudinal groove, as more clearly shown in Figure 4. With the shoe skate firmly secured Within the platform 10 as shown in Figures 4 and 5, with the blade 31 maintained above the level of the ground engaging surface 14 thereof, a securing strap 49 may be adjustably secured over the top of the shoe, whereupon the skater may safely and easily Walk without having to remove the skates.

Referring now to Figure 6 of the drawing, a modification of this invention is shown to comprise a platform 50 that is constructed of a plastic or rubber material and which is provided with a longitudinal series of openings 53 which extend through the bottom surface 55 thereof along the central longitudinal plane of the platform. While the longitudinal slot does not extend through the bottom surface of the platform, these openings 53 permit water to leak through so as not to freeze within the groove.

In both forms of this invention, the ground engaging surface 14, 55 is roughened to facilitate walking and to prevent slipping.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the specific form shown in the drawing, it is to be understood such showing is for illustrative purposes only and is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention which is best defined by the claim appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

An ice skate walking appliance or walking shoe, including a unitary, substantially flat elongated platform having a longitudinal slot extending centrally from a point spaced a short distance from the rear end of the platform to the forward extremity so as to open to the upper and lower surfaces of the platform and the forward end thereof and being vertically disposed, the slot having at its rear closed end a downwardly extending recess and intermediate the ends thereof a second downwardly extending recess conditioning the slot to receive the blade of an ice skate and also receive supporting posts thereof, said recesses being enlarged into both sides of said slot, the rear end of said slot also being undercut to retain the skate blade when the blade is located in the slot and the rear end thereof extends into the undercut portion, a strap means for retaining the forward portion of a shoe mounted upon the skate down in position to locate the skate blade in said slot, and means bridging the bottom of said slot upon the underside of said platform to retain the latter intact against undesirable expansion and breakage, and wherein the slot opens downwardly to the bottom of the platform through a series of separate apertures and the means bridging the bottom of the slot comprises 2,155,412; Cb1bert' Apr.25 1939 4 Barnard Nov. 28, 1939 Jahnke June 25, 1940 Tuell et a1. Apr. 15, 1941 Carson July 18, 1944 OTHER REFERENCES Abstract Canadian Patent Ofiice Journal: Martin, No. 177,182, May 22, 1917. 

